What To Do with Plastic No Recycler Wants

My esteemed spouse, super-recycler Kathy Martin, found a company that would accept plastic that our local recycling facilities reject. The cost was hefty -- as was the uncertainty about what happens to the stuff. Full story available HERE.  

FPL Finally Gets Smart About Burying Lines

 For decades, Florida Power & Light said burying lines was "not a silver bullet." Then it offered to underground if the community paid. Now, the worst areas are getting buried lines for essentially nothing. For full story see the page on left or click HERE.

Boulevard Market in New Yorker

 Mercy Supermarket, 6600 Biscayne Blvd., was the title subject of a poem by Campbell McGrath in The New Yorker. What would the owner think about this honor? I had to find out. 

Full post HERE. 

Two Ways to Better Recycling

  A major nonprofit group has two proven ideas for bettering every place’s recycling performance: Bigger carts, more info.

Full story HERE.

False Claim about Dade Recycling Deal

 Does anyone want the recycling collected by Miami-Dade County? All the material now from 350,000 homes ends up in western Broward County at a facility run by Waste Management.

Kessler Consulting, hired by the county, reported flatly: “WMI has stated they will not continue providing services once the current contract terminates.”

Well, in fact, Waste Management will be happy to continue to provide recycling services for Miami-Dade. 

Full story available HERE.

Making Big Business Out of Plastic Bags

 

Trex has made a big business of what many experts think of as the grand evil of local recycling – plastic bags. Not just bags, but a bunch of other things that are unrecyclable in almost all city/county recycling programs. This is a big chance to recycle plastics that others won’t take. Full story HERE.

How To Use Supermarkets for Recycling

 

Plastic bags – the evil that should never be in our recycling bins – can find a home at major supermarkets. But what happens to it then?

As with much of recycling, there is theory – and then there’s reality, which can get messed up because … well, because human beings are involved. Click HERE for full story.

Top Expert Speaks on Recycling

 Good News: Prices of recyclables going up thanks to pandemic. New tech is astonishing. Swiss, Germans, Japanese do it better. Glass a problem everywhere. Story HERE.

What Really Happens to Your Recycling

 What happens at a recycling center? It's a fast-moving conveyer belt designed to accept only certain stuff. It has to discard a huge amount of things. And there's a lot of junk to begin with.  A Miami-Dade County survey of material picked up by county trucks showed that almost half of each load was "contaminated" -- meaning it had to be thrown out. Click HERE for an explainer of what happens in words, photos and video. 

The REAL Do's and Don'ts of Recycling

 Too many earnest recyclers make mistakes with plastic, "Don't overthink plastic" advises one knowledgeable website. And glass is worse than worthless. Here's an explainer for those trying to do a great job -- and failing. Full story available at right or click HERE. 

Too Conscientious in Miami Shores

In the village where I live, I take early morning walks and see my neighbors recycling. In quite a few cases, they're being too conscientious, and their stuff ends up in the landfill -- or wreaks havoc on the recycling center where it's taken. Also: the village's instruction sheet is either wrong or misleading. See full story at right or click HERE.